Frontier Developments is set to launch their newest expansion, CQC soon. The beta is currently under way, and I got a chance to jump in. As a brief refresher, CQC stands for Close Quarters Combat Championship. In it, up to 8 players take part in Team Deathmatch, Free For All or Capture The Flag Matches in arenas as they pilot a selection of the iconic ships from the larger game. The Condor, Sidewinder and Eagle are all included, putting a premium on speed and maneuverability.

As you complete matches, you earn experience which can then be used to unlock upgrades for the various ships. Switching your pulse lasers out for beam lasers; swapping your chaff launcher for silent running and more. These custom loadouts add a nice bit of flavor to the matches, as you never know quite what the enemy is going to have equipped.  The arenas are varied, or at least as varied as space can be. One has you fighting amidst a frozen asteroid field, another sees you swooping between the struts of a space station as you chase down the flag carrier, and another has a hulking central hub with a tunnel through it that makes for nail biting high speed chases.

Theres no doubt that CQC is fun. It flies like Elite, ships are squishy yet powerful, the arenas and powerups scattered about make things diverse and interesting, and all in all it feels well thought out. I had some team balance issues, but this is a beta with a limited player pool. If all goes well, CQC should release next week. Team Sanitarium will dive right in. If we can convince PredictedCyborg to step aside from her role as dictator supreme of her faction….